The Dutch budget deficit will rise to 2.3% this year largely as a result of the measures announced in the government’s spring financial statement, according to macro-economic forecasting agency the CPB.

In February, the CPB forecast a budget deficit of 1.8% for 2025.

The spring statement includes additional spending on defence and asylum, as well as measures to support sustainable energy and extra funding for local authorities, all of which have helped boost the deficit, the CPB said.

Next year, the budget deficit is expected to reach 2.8%, just below the European Union’s 3% limit, before falling again in subsequent years.

The national debt is also set to increase, from 43.4% of gross domestic product in 2024 to 50.2% by 2029, the CPB said.

The four coalition parties – the  anti-immigration PVV, right-wing liberal VVD, centrist NSC and farmers’ party BBB – reached an agreement on the spring financial statement two weeks ago.

However, several key decisions have been postponed yet again, until the August budget talks.